Pittsburgh, PA
In a hobby filled with bonehead decisions made by pinball companies, often times Pinside becomes a pretty negative place - and for good reason. These messages need to be heard so the end product is better.
That being said, it's just as important to highlight when a company really knocks it out of the park. And today, that company is Stern. And that game is Jaws.......
REVENGE!!??
Seriously - this amazing 8bit NES inspired, nostalgia overload "challenge mode" is truly a ground breaking achievement. I've been active in this hobby since 2015 and I've never seen such attention to detail injected into a new mode before as it literally transforms the experience entirely. This needs to get more attention as it's brilliant.
Revenge includes elements taken from Mike Tyson's Punch Out to Super Mario. The power ups and the story text taken directly from video games (like contra 3 - hell yes) . The laugh you hear when you encounter the "boss" for each level. The quality of the sprites and how well they nailed the style. The amazing 8bit music throughout. The creative rules and story. The list goes on and on.
And we've seen these challenge modes attempted before (including multimorphic). This is no random side mode. It's actually fun. It's truly a different way to take advantage of the same pinball machine that's taking up space by injecting an entirely new value proposition for the owner to experience. New LCD display graphics, new music, new way to use the current hardware (action button for chomping) - the quick in and out nature which is a stark contrast to the normal game. It's a brilliant idea.
For those that are unaware - see the video below.
Thank you Keith and team. You truly are innovating. Stern - well done for supporting this as well. Now reduce LE's back to 500, saving your premiums from collapsing in value and scale the price of games based on theme and/or designer and we'll be cooking again!
Side note - Elizabeth is a GREAT addition to the Stern team and the pinball industry. Breath of fresh air - she’s genuine and super talented both in programming and pinball skills alike.
Edmonton, AB
